On a chilly Sunday morning at C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez Park, those numbers become faces. Sacramento Street Medicine<\/a>,the Sacramento Poor People\u2019s Campaign<\/a>, and Black Hair & Black Hygiene<\/a> organized an event Nov. 30 to provide care and products to unhoused residents. Volunteers gave out gloves, hats, hygiene products, food, and medical care.<\/p>\n In real time, the city\u2019s safety net appears to be volunteers filling in the gaps left by government systems.<\/p>\n \u201cIf housed people are struggling, imagine those who are unhoused,\u201d said Faye Wilson Kennedy, organizer with the Sacramento Poor People\u2019s Campaign. \u201cWe\u2019re coming off the heels of a federal shutdown, and even before that, DOGE [the Department of Government Efficiency] laid off so many people. Folks who were already on the edge are now being pushed out of their homes.\u201d<\/p>\n Kennedy has spent years coordinating mutual aid efforts, but even she describes the current moment as \u201ca crisis unfolding before our eyes.\u201d As rents hover around $2,000<\/a> and minimum-wage workers and seniors on Supplemental Security Income struggle to keep up<\/a>, she fears far more people will join the swelling ranks of Sacramento\u2019s unhoused.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople don\u2019t realize how fragile it is,\u201d she said. \u201cMost of us are just one or two paychecks away.\u201d<\/p>\n At the event, the line for medical check-ins formed early. For many unhoused residents, Sacramento Street Medicine is the closest thing to regular health care they\u2019ll receive.<\/p>\n \u201cPoor folks often don\u2019t have access to health care \u2014 especially the unhoused,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we partner with street medicine volunteers; they meet people where they are, literally.\u201d<\/p>\n Volunteers strolled through the park, greeting people by name, examining wounds, providing prescription refills, and asking about recent sweeps. While it\u2019s obvious that the gap has become more like a canyon, many refer to their effort as \u201cfilling gaps.\u201d<\/p>\n The changes to federal and state programs over the past year, Kennedy argued, have left mutual aid groups vulnerable; demand keeps rising as financing keeps falling.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople think hunger is seasonal,\u201d she said. \u201cBut folks are hungry in January, they\u2019re hungry in April, they\u2019re hungry year-round. And without federal support, I don\u2019t know how long community groups can keep filling these needs.\u201d<\/p>\n Volunteer Nancy Turner with the Sacramento Poor People\u2019s Campaign sees the same reality.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s sad to see so many programs cut,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople at the federal level don\u2019t understand how it impacts the person on the street. Volunteers are stepping up because the safety net has vanished.\u201d<\/p>\n Kennedy said local governments need to ramp up efforts to address the crisis of homelessness. \u201cWe need more than shelters,\u201d she said, \u201cwe need permanent solutions.\u201d She believes the city must confront the deeper structural failures fueling the crisis.<\/p>\n \u201cAffordability is at the heart of this problem,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople can\u2019t afford rent. Section 8 waitlists are horrific. Transportation is limited. And without support services, people can\u2019t get back on their feet.\u201d<\/p>\n She points to abandoned homes, empty Rite-Aid stores and Walgreens buildings in disinvested neighborhoods as spaces that could be rehabilitated for unhoused people.<\/p>\n \u201cThis would give people dignified housing with wraparound services,\u201d she said. \u201cBut until that happens, community groups will keep doing what they can.\u201d<\/p>\n By noon, the park was full of activity. People brought packages of warm clothing and hygiene packs. A man in a wheelchair rolled away with a new scarf wrapped across his lap. A lady and her teenage son left with a bag of groceries.<\/p>\n Those products won\u2019t address homelessness. Volunteers know that. However, they will provide someone with the warmth, cleanliness, and dignity that the system frequently ignores.<\/p>\n Sacramento\u2019s homelessness crisis is rising, and its political fights continue. However, at C\u00e9sar Ch\u00e1vez Park, on this particular Sunday, these organizations showed that change can happen when we work together.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to see our unhoused neighbors not as a deficit, but as [people] temporarily having a hard time,\u201d Kennedy said. \u2018That\u2019s the humanity that\u2019s missing. And that\u2019s why we show up.\u201d<\/p>\n A wish and need list, as requested by our unhoused neighbors by Sacramento Poor People\u2019s Campaign:<\/p>\n Warm blankets<\/p>\n Beanie hats<\/p>\n Gloves<\/p>\n Socks<\/p>\n Winter warm scarves<\/p>\n Tarps<\/p>\n Belts<\/p>\n Wash cloths<\/p>\n Women\u2019s and men\u2019s underwear<\/p>\n Gently loved ( used) sweaters, sweatshirts, and sweatpants.<\/p>\n![\"Faye](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/POOR-PEOPLES-CAMPAIGN-HYGIENE-GIVEAWAY-11302025-RS-002.jpg\")
Faye Wilson Kennedy, organizer with the Sacramento Poor People\u2019s Campaign at the unhoused event at Cesar Chavez Park on Sunday, November 30 2025. Russell Stiger Jr., OBSERVER<\/p>\n![\"Hygiene](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/POOR-PEOPLES-CAMPAIGN-HYGIENE-GIVEAWAY-11302025-RS-006.jpg\")
Hygiene products the Poor people\u2019s campaign put together to giveaway Sacramento\u2019s Unhoused Community, Sunday, November 30, 2025. Russell Stiger Jr., OBSERVER<\/p>\n